My love story
by jcapanatomy
Summary: My story began when she walked in on a stormy night, drenched and looking lost. The rest just wrote itself.
1. Prologue

When I was eleven, my cousin took me to a library. He helped me pick a book, one small book with a few pages and no pictures. As a kid, I have never had my parents read me bed time stories, so I was never interested in books. But that day, everything changed. My cousin prompted me to read the book, in exchange for candy and so I grudgingly read it. I don't exactly remember what the book was, but after I read it, I forgot all about the candy and I wanted to read more books.

When I was twelve, I had out-smarted all the students in my class, but then I was harshly reminded that nobody likes an insufferable know-it-all. After that, I never let anyone know that I read stories. It became my little secret; a guilty pleasure.

As I grew, the size of the books I read did too. In the real world, I had always felt out of place, no matter how much I tried to fit in. But soon, I finally felt like I truly belonged in my fantasy. My mind was a beautiful yet complex place to live.

When I was fifteen, I realized that if it was that easy for me to fall in love with fictional characters, it would be easy for me to fall in love with real people too. It was then I knew that I wanted to fall in love with someone; have my own ending with the pain and sorrow. I longed for it.

Nobody knew that I read. But that was all I did- read, read, read. I was an avid reader. I tried my hand at writing, but it never worked out. Reading was all I ever wanted to. It gave me something to feel, someone's pain was my pain, their happiness was my happiness. I was always reminded harshly that it was fictional. I longed to know what real feelings would be like.

When I was eighteen, I got a job at the local bookstore and it was like a dream come true. My Mom was stunned when I told her that I wanted to work at a bookstore, considering my grades she thought I would leave this small town in Ohio and go out in the real world and pursue something.

I always felt like I never had a talent- I was an average at everything. I finally found my passion, my talent, it was in reading. I was an avid reader. The thoughts flew at millions of words per second and I liked to stay that way.

I assured my Mom that I would make a real living ( I didn't know what that was ) just to make her happy and she was relieved to some extent. Ecstatic about my new job, I rambled on about the tiny bookstore, called the "Bookstore" and I could barely sleep at night.

Who knew that working at a bookstore, in this tiny town of Lima, Ohio would bring me my story, my love story which had all the pain, happiness, sorrow, heart break and love.

I learned to live and I taught her how to love.

But, of course, every story has a beginning and an end.

Mine began when she walked in on a stormy night, drenched and looking lost.

The rest just wrote itself.

/

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	2. Chapter 2

The loud alarm from my phone woke me up from my blissful sleep. I was too excited for my shift at the bookstore, which made my already cheerful morning even more. I walked past my mom's room and saw that she was still asleep. She must have been working late last night, I mused.

I quickly dressed myself and made my way downstairs to the kitchen. I thought of making pancakes, the only dish I knew how to prepare. I was a disaster in the kitchen. I checked if there was any batter left and there was none. I made a mental note to remind mom to get some from the store. I was stuck with cereal, to which I had no problem.

It was nine by the time I left home and my shift didn't start until ten. But I was eager to go there, and hel Christy, my co-worker. We both managed the shift together, and she was truly a wonderful person to work with. She shared my passion for reading and we both never got tired of talking to each other.

I decided to walk rather than take my bike, but when I looked outside, it was rather cloudy for a supposed to be sunny day. It was the summer, but the weather in Lima was unpredictable. I finally made my mind to walk, it wasn't that far. I loved walking, especially alone. I made up stories about the people in my street and it was always pretty funny in my head.

I enjoyed my walk and when I reached the Bookstore, Christy was already there.

"Hey Britt! You're early." She smiled in greeting and I smiled back.

"I woke up early and I was bored at home, so."

"Well, that's good. I need some help, could you arrange the books on the top shelf? I couldn't reach it." She mumbled sheepishly. I grinned. Christy was in her mid-twenties, with strawberry blonde hair and blue eyes, just like mine. She could easily pass as my sister. I made a saluting gesture to which she laughed, before telling me what to do. I don't know why I acted like a dork, sometimes.

After arranging the books by alphabetical order, Christy filled me in on the new books that were yet to arrive. I listened as much as I could, but I had the attention span of a baby.

"Britt," She sighed, "Are you even listening to me?"

I quickly snapped my attention back to her. "What? Of course I am." I nodded, proving my point.

"Brittany" She made a face, like she was trying to stay mad but her twitching lips gave it away.

"I'm totally paying attention to you." I grinned and soon she smiled at me too, shaking her head.

"You're lucky you're so cute." She motioned to pinch my cheeks and I pulled away from her.

"Stop it, I'm not cute." I pouted and she smiled at me, as though I was proving her point.

We spent the rest of the morning bantering playfully, and not so many people came in. It was to be expected, nobody visited bookstores that much, especially in this small town.

The day was pretty uneventful, until Christy received a call. She kept agreeing to whatever the person on the other side said and I had this nagging feeling in my gut that something was wrong.

"Brittany, listen, I'm so sorry but I gotta go pick my brother from the airport and I totally forgot about that. Would you be okay managing the store on your own?"

I smiled in relief, that nothing bad had happened. "Yeah, sure, I'll see you later."

She returned a smile in thanks. "Remember-"

"Lock the store on my way out and any time I have to leave it. I know, Christy." I made a shooing gesture and with a goodbye wave, she was out. The store felt eerily quiet now that Christy was gone. I made myself busy by looking at pictures of cats on my phone. I jumped when I heard the sudden downpour from outside. Curse the crazy, unpredictable weather at Lima.

/

Christy called me to inform that she wouldn't be joining me at the store, so it was just myself, trapped in here in the middle of the rain. It was almost nine in the night; I called my mom to let her know that I was at the store, so that she wouldn't be so worried. She was a worrier.

I was at the back, where they kept the old journals and to pass my time, I was arranging them by the year they were published. Luckily, the power didn't go out, so I felt safe in here. I heard a loud crash from outside, a noise that sounded like a car crashing into the pole of the streetlights.

I rushed outside to see the intruder, and my guess was scarily accurate. I wasn't surprised that this person had crashed into a pole, it was pouring outside, I could barely see a thing. But, I was surprised that this person had decided to drive in this weather and people said I was the stupid one.

I fetched the umbrella that Christy kept inside one of the shelves and made my way over to the car. I hoped that the person inside wasn't hurt or injured. It would be a pretty difficult task to get them to the hospital in this weather and I had no idea about first aid.

I heard the person muttering something and it sounded a lot like a woman. I prayed that she was okay. I rapped on the window of the car and watched it slowly rolled down, followed by a string of curses.

I didn't have a flashlight with me and I could hardly see the person inside but from what I could make out, she seemed uninjured to me. I leant forward, blinking and adjusting my eye-sight to get a good look.

"Excuse me? Miss, are you okay?"

"Shit, shit, shit. Do I look okay? Fucking shit, why does this always happen to me?" She muttered and banged her fist on the steering wheel, and let out a loud hiss in pain. I instantly pulled back, convinced that this person was crazy.

"Hey, you might already be hurt. You shouldn't injure yourself further more." I heard her let out a resigned sigh and saw her poke her head out of the window.

"You're right." She sounded really tired. I could see some features of her face, but from her tone I could say that she must have been driving for hours.

"Do you wanna get some fresh air? I work nearby and you should check yourself, see if you're hurt." I offered and she nodded. She stepped out and even in the dark, I could tell that she was really pretty. She was a brunette, a few inches shorter than me and she was bundled up in a scarf and a jacket. That was pretty much all I could make out.

I offered her my umbrella and she instantly got under it. "It's right over there" I pointed in the direction and again, she nodded quietly and I waited for her to curse or speak something but she maintained silence. She was probably tired, I guessed.

I ushered her in first and closed the door behind me. "Um," She began hesitantly and I looked at her, expectant. "Can I use the bathroom?" She asked, timid and I was really surprised at the change in her demeanor. Not a few minutes ago, she was cursing like a sailor and she sounded really shy.

"Sure," I led her to the bathroom and she muttered a small thank you before disappearing behind the door. The lights flickered above me and I prayed that the power wouldn't go off.

The day had started uneventful, but now it was raining heavily, I helped a stranger and now she is using the bathroom at the store I worked in. Suddenly, I felt nervous. This sounded a lot like one of the stories I read, and it had all the events before something bad happened.

I gulped.

/

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